


at the still point of the turning world

by psithurism



Series: The flesh cannot endure [2]
Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers Feels, Avengers team - Freeform, Episode: s03e26 Civil War Part 4: Avengers Revolution, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, POV Steve Rogers, Possession, Season/Series 03, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Ultron is Cruel, What-If, oh god what have I done
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 18:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14624388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psithurism/pseuds/psithurism
Summary: It turns out that becoming human is the perfect solution to the problem.(What if Doctor Strange hadn't arrived to prevent Ultron from completely taking control of Tony?)





	at the still point of the turning world

**Author's Note:**

> **Important:** This fic follows the season 3 finale, right up to the scene where Black Widow hints that they may have to kill Tony in order to stop Ultron, and then it goes horribly AU from there.
> 
> This is also a distant sequel to [Neither Flesh nor Fleshless](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14326563), but you don't have to read that in order to understand this fic. However, there are some aspects that deal with some elements in said fic, but overall they might not jar your reading experience.
> 
> Title and chapter titles are still taken from T.S. Eliot's _Burnt Norton_ and are the only pretentious elements of this fic lol. Tags will be added when necessary. Creative liberties, too, on certain elements.
> 
> Shoutout to [a_salty_alto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_salty_alto/pseuds/a_salty_alto) and [WoodiestComic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WoodiestComic/pseuds/WoodiestComic) for the comments and insights about Ultron that made me think about and re-evaluate my treatment of Ultron! :D
> 
> Lastly: I'm actually nervous about this fic. I think this is better as a comic, but I don't have enough time and resources to make one lol. So, uh, anyway, please be gentle?

In the end they couldn’t do it.

 

+

 

“Go on, Avengers,” Ultron taunts. “Attack me. Attack Tony Stark, so I will fall and you will triumph like you’ve hoped for.” He pauses, tilting his head slightly to the side as though something just occurred to him. “Of course, the same goes for him. You stop me, you stop Tony. And we all know that you don’t want that, do you?”

“There has to be another way,” Steve hears Carol whisper, the words forced out of her grinding teeth, but he doesn’t reply, much too focused on the figure above them.

Ultron watches them with Tony’s eyes and Tony’s face, arms outstretched like he’s embracing this terrible situation with an expression that Steve has never imagined Tony could make. It’s all wrong, wrong, _wrong,_ and Steve wishes that this were a dream, that he would wake up and find himself in the Avengers Tower—the New Powers Act, Truman Marsh, and Ultron all just by-products of his mind.

But seconds tick by, and Ultron remains.

“It is laughable,” Ultron goes on, “how you all proclaim to protect the Earth, and yet, you can’t even protect your friend. What would Tony think? How would he _feel?_ ” He smiles a wicked smile, and it’s like a punch to the gut.

Somewhere to Steve’s left, Sam calls out, “Come on, Tony, please fight it! Don’t let Ultron take over you completely.”

That elicits a laugh from Ultron. “Why, Falcon,” Ultron coos, “but I’ve already won. You can no longer reach Tony. This flesh is mine now. My powers plus this body’s capabilities.”

He waves one hand, and suddenly a screech of static pierces their ears. The others cry out in surprise, pulling their comms devices off.

Ultron waves his other hand, and all the surrounding machines and metal vibrate, then move. His vibranium vessel jerks and, like Frankenstein’s monster coming to life, rises limb by limb in slow and horrifying motion. Around him the Avengers return to their battle stances.

“I should deal with you right now, Avengers,” Ultron says. “I can easily dispose of you now that I have taken over every machine in this area. After all, I still have the power of the Infinity Gauntlet. You could destroy all the machines, but it will be futile: they will reconstruct again and again, like my sentries. However, I will be generous today; I’ll allow you to witness my victory. We will share this momentous occasion before I eliminate you all.”

He readies his position for flight but lowers his head and looks straight at Steve. Steve tenses, cold pinpricks cascading his skin, and he wonders if Ultron would shoot at him using Tony’s repulsor beams or do something even more devastating.

The Avengers notice Ultron’s movements, and they shuffle closer to Steve into a defensive position. But all Ultron does is nod, then a sharp grin and, “Captain America,” before he flies off.

“Don’t let him get away!”

“On it.” Clint sends three arrows that gain on Ultron’s increasingly diminishing figure. Thor, Carol, and Vision follow, but Ultron’s vibranium body blindsided the three, colliding with Thor and subsequently knocking Carol and Vision off the air. The arrows fail in reaching Ultron: a giant robot made out of the available machines arises from the ground, swallowing the weapons with its uneven, jagged mouth.

“Ultron’s getting farther and farther; we must hurry!”

Natasha glances at Steve and raises her wrists. “Steve, we should—”

“Let Ultron go for now,” Steve says, and that’s something hard to swallow. Letting Ultron escape means letting Tony slip from their grasp. But the giant robot hindering them is unyielding. “We deal with these two first. I have a feeling that they wouldn’t let us follow Ultron no matter what.”

Natasha gives him an unreadable look and Steve returns it, before she turns back to the machines. “All right.”

It takes them at least fifteen minutes to make a huge impact against both the robots. Even with the Avengers’ combined strengths, Ultron’s machines are adaptive, and for every damage the Avengers inflict on them the robot merely disassembles and then reassembles; Ultron’s former vibranium vessel now knows how to dodge and deflect sound attacks. It’s frustrating, and by the time Sam figures out how to slow them down until they can finally be destroyed, Ultron could be anywhere.

Hulk smashes the last of the robot parts with a savage flourish, and Steve can feel his satisfaction radiating in the air. Kamala approaches Hulk and pats his arm.

T’Challa faces Steve, posture solemn, and says, “I am very sorry for this unfortunate turn of events, Captain. We have failed in saving Iron Man.”

“I—” he begins, then stops.

“Don’t worry, Army,” Carol says, consoling, “we’ll stop Ultron and get Tony back.”

“So what now, Cap?” Clint says, leaning against a pile of broken robot legs, twirling an arrow with his right hand.

The machines lay demolished around them, residual electricity crackling every few seconds, wires and shrapnels scattered like confetti on the ground. It’s the middle of the night, and at the horizon the glow of city lights burns like a sustained leonine-yellow flame. Steve lifts his head and sees the expectations the Avengers hold in their gazes. Everything has come to this, and it’s an outcome Steve has never wished to happen. It’s his worst fear come to life: Ultron returning; Ultron overcoming Tony; Ultron taking Tony away from them.

But even though it feels like the end of the world, they must continue fighting. Steve knows that Tony’s fighting too, and that, in the end, Ultron will lose, as it has always been.

Steve puts his shield away, and Natasha tenses up from his action. Steve pays her no mind.

“I know this is hard for every one of us to accept, but we must fall back for now,” he announces. “Reassess the situation. Come up with plans on how to stop Ultron and remove him from Tony.”

Thor takes a step forward. “Surely you do not mean that, Captain,” he says, tone uncertain and disbelieving. “We are letting Ultron escape with him controlling Tony. If we don’t follow him right now, Ultron will use Tony to lay waste on the world.”

“We won’t let him, Thor,” Kamala says, positive and bright. “We just need a plan on how to kick Ultron’s butt and save Iron Man.”

“But Thor has a point.” Carol nods at Thor, who returns the gesture. Behind her, Kamala falters. “If we stop now, there might not be any world tomorrow.”

“Most of us are tired and beaten from the fight,” Steve argues. “If we follow Ultron now, chances are he’d defeat us again. We have to recuperate and make plans.”

A few paces away, Hulk snorts. “Tin Man’s in danger. I want to save him _and_ smash Ultron.”

“He’s right,” Red Hulk adds, pointing his thumb at Hulk. “I want to bust more robot heads. I’m not tired.”

“As am I,” Thor says.

They’re at a standstill: Steve sees the point they’re making, but he can’t ignore the fact that many of them are exhausted from the battle with Ultron’s machines. Clint puts up a good front, but the way he favored his left side during the fight does not escape Steve’s notice. Natasha, too: wincing whenever she walks. Although she’s good at hiding it, Natasha can’t completely disguise the halting steps she makes. Kamala’s eyes are drooping, and Scott and Sam are just as worn out from all they’ve done since hours ago. They can’t face Ultron again like this. They need to regroup.

“Okay, I’m sure y’all wanted to do something about Ultron.” Melissa approaches Carol’s side and looks at everybody. “We all wanted to stop Ultron. Some of you are injured and need resting, but some of you can still fight. So how about we split up? One group can find Ultron and keep an eye on him and prevent him from doing something bad, while the other can come up with a really great plan to stop him once and for all?”

“Excellent suggestion, Songbird,” Vision says. “I can assist in the search for Ultron and Iron Man, and maybe even find a way to free Tony from Ultron’s hold.”

“Good thinking, Songbird, Vision. I’m sure some of us still want to continue.” Carol grins, placing her hands on her hips, and turns to Steve. “So what’ll it be, Cap? It’s still your call.”

It’s, indeed, a good suggestion. They can make progress, albeit small, but progress nonetheless. Steve doesn’t approve it fully, but he can see the advantage. There are still other things they must tackle, however, and perhaps this is the best way to deal with them.

“We follow Songbird’s suggestion,” Steve says, and Melissa smiles. Thor and Carol grin in approval. “All of those still uninjured from the fight, you follow Captain Marvel’s lead. But you must not engage Ultron unless necessary. You hurt Ultron, you hurt Tony. But if you can subdue him, do it. Your priority should be preventing Ultron from attacking civilians. We also need to find a way to undo Ultron’s possession of Tony.” Then he turns to Natasha. “Black Widow, Hawkeye, Falcon, Ms. Marvel, and Ant-Man—you’re all benched for now. You all need medical treatment and rest.”

“Aw, Cap, no way,” Clint says. “Come on; I still have some spare arrows that cry for robot targets.”

“Don’t think I haven’t seen you favoring your left, Hawkeye.”

That shuts Clint up.

“Um, hey.” Scott shifts from where he stands, voice tentative as all eyes land on him. He rubs the back of his neck, hesitant. “I get that I’m out of commission for now, but I just want to say that I know someone who could give us a hand on a lot of things. She’s Avenger material, I promise. I can ask her to join us.”

Steve approves. The more, the better. “That’s great, Ant-Man. Keep us posted.” Then, he glances at T’Challa, who looks back. “Black Panther. Your Majesty …”

“Captain. Is there something you need?”

“A small favor, if you will.” When T’Challa thinks it over and then nods for him to continue, Steve goes on: “We need someone to contact the Inhumans to inform them of the situation. I’m sure they need the knowledge of what has happened. And we also need their help, should it come to that. We also can’t know for certain if Ultron pursues them again. If it’s all right with you, Your Majesty, to speak with Black Bolt, king to king.”

“It is fine, Captain. That is a reasonable request.”

“Thank you.” With that settled, Steve turns to everybody. “Right now, we don’t have a base since the Avengers Tower was destroyed. If any one of you knows a place that can be considered as temporary headquarters, then tell us.”

It’s Natasha who answers. “I know an abandoned SHIELD facility that we can use. It’s all equipped with whatever we may need for this, against Ultron—even a medical wing.”

“That’s good news, Widow. Everything’s straightened out, then. Any questions?”

There isn’t. They’re too busy gearing up for the search, and Steve feels the itch to join them. But he knows that they only act as a buffer: unless they come up with a definitive way of extracting Ultron from Tony, then everything’s just for the interim.

They fall into two groups: Carol’s team include Thor, Vision, Hulk, and Red Hulk; while his include Natasha, Clint, Sam, T’Challa, Melissa, and Scott. Carol nods at them before taking flight, and the others followed, leaving Steve’s team on their own.

“So,” Clint says to the silence, “we lost.”

“We haven’t,” Natasha says, cool and cutting. “It isn’t over.”

Clint makes a face that conveys a distinct flavor of skepticism, but he keeps his mouth closed.

Out of all of them, it’s Kamala who displays unrelenting optimism. She clasps her hands and, in her most supportive voice, says, “Black Widow’s right, guys! It’s not yet over—we still have a chance! Iron Man’s smart and strong, right? He’s definitely doing something to shake off Ultron as we speak! We won’t give up on him!”

“Ms. Marvel’s right,” Sam says. “I’ll search for some helpful information in the SHIELD database once we arrive at the new HQ.” He tilts his head to Steve. “Cap?”

The night wind bites against his exposed skin, harsh and unforgiving. Steve cannot forget the distortion Ultron brought to Tony’s expressions, stamped in his memories with indelible ink. Ultron in Tony’s body; Tony’s soul pushed aside, boxed in, a prisoner in his own body. It’s unthinkable, unacceptable, the world curling into itself, buckling from the sheer _wrongness_ of what has happened. Ultron might as well plunge his hand into Steve’s chest, grab his heart, and tear it away.

It shouldn’t have to be Tony. It should never be Tony who pays the price.

His fists clench of their own accord. Steve takes a deep breath. He mustn’t succumb to despair; Tony would disapprove of it, he knows. There’s still hope. And if there isn’t, then he will create one.

Facing the direction of the Avenjet, Steve gestures at the rest of the team. “Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry


End file.
